Warning: letting chicken marinate too long in citrus ruined my air fryer coating

I tried a new lime-cilantro chicken recipe last Tuesday and left it in the marinade for about 4 hours. When I put it in the air fryer at 375, the outside turned into a sticky, mushy mess instead of getting crispy. The acid in the lime really breaks down the meat and the breading never set right. Has anyone else had this issue with citrus marinades frying up weird?

2 comments

2 Comments

joseph_adams6623d agoMost Upvoted

Wait wait, you left chicken in lime juice for four hours? That's basically ceviche at that point. The acid cooks the outer layer of the meat before it ever hits the air fryer. I did the same thing with a lemon garlic marinade once, left it overnight. The coating turned into wet sandpaper.

graygonzalez23d agoMost Upvoted

Ngl I just switched to dry rubs after that happened to me once.